Great book, presentation was disappointing

I love this book, and decided to try it as an audiobook. I have to say, I was somewhat disappointed from a production standpoint. When reading the book, the dialogue sounds witty and bantering, yet very literate - when read aloud, it often sounds stilted (In fairness, I have not heard another reader attempt this, so cannot say whether this is the writing not translating to spoken word or poor presentation on the part of the narrator). I was somewhat underwhelmed by the emotional range shown by the narrator. Additionally, anyone who has read Heinlein knows that he comments on the "tall corn, rusty Midwest" accents. Unfortunately, the narrator takes this to extreme, with most character's voices representing some variant of "hick accent". Having listened to Lloyd James' presentation of "Moon Is A Harsh Mistress", I wished he had been available for this one as well.

41 people found this helpful

Abridge Version

This is an abridged version. Having read the paperback version of The Cat Who Walks though Wall several times I can understand why people give this version such a bad review. This supposedly unabridged reading goes from one scene to another leaving out serval paragraphs that where in the original paperback version. Save your Audible credits and spend your money on the paperback, you will enjoy the book more in its unedited form.

81 people found this helpful

Pretty Good Book, but Too Dated For Me

I have always been a fan of Robert Heinlein. I especially loved Stranger in a Strange Land. However, now that I'm older, I think the dated style that Heinlein used is starting to grate on me. This one is done in the noir style of Raymond Chandler, et al. But his cutesy banter between men and women wasn't even realistic in the forties, let alone today. It appeared often enough that I got tired of rolling my eyes and searching for a way to skip past it in the audio-book (too bad they don't have a Skip Forward button!)

Also, the Everyman Yankee (AKA MacGyver) who can do the most random things that 99% of people can't do (and serendipitously progress the plot) has become less believable as I have grown more experienced. For example, how many readers can really pick a lock?

The story is pretty good, and the narration was quite good. But I guess I have just outgrown Heinlein. :(

7 people found this helpful

Abstract storyline

If you could sum up The Cat Who Walks through Walls in three words, what would they be?

strange, fun, exciting

Who was your favorite character and why?

I honestly loved all the characters with the exception of one, who is a famous character from the "not so series" so ill say who i didn't like instead. Lassie long the annoying.....

What does Tom Weiner bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

eh

If you were to make a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

prepare for the sequel

Any additional comments?

Although it strongly relies on other stories to finish its tale. This was a very fun odd book.I enjoyed it very much

7 people found this helpful

One of the best scifi novels around

Action, imagination, great ideas, great story telling, thrilling, full of twists. All you want is there. Heinlein excels in the The Cat Who Walks through Walls. More over the character interaction is not only interesting, it is flammable! The dramatic exchanges between the lead pair are so enjoyable. Author is not scared to include a few spicy twists, which are just rendering the novel more interesting. Don't listen to those religious purists who get red because of that, this novel is excellent. I have read this novel many times and always coming back. Full 5 stars well deserved.

7 people found this helpful

Heinlein on the decline

Is there anything you would change about this book?

The second half

Would you recommend The Cat Who Walks through Walls to your friends? Why or why not?

I wanted to blame the later Heinlein on the success of Stranger in a Strange Land, but looking back on the publishing dates he had later books I liked and earier books not so much. My guess is I like branches that lead somewhere and here he seemed to not only want to bring in many of his old characters, but pay homage to other writers.

4 people found this helpful

Old man Heinlein does it again &Tom Weiner's cool.

I've come across Robert Heinlein only recently, in the last 5 years... my favorites Moon is a Harsh Mistress, Stranger in a Strange Land, Friday. This story takes a lot from these a more, but uses Heinlein's more current understanding of how weird real world science is, quantum mechanics,etc... and he simply adds it to his palet to paint a tale that will require reading (listening) to it again, at least once or twice. But I really enjoyed the skill of the narrator, who obviously knows and loves the characters he narrates. I'd encourage anyone who liked the Moon, to take this ride too. Heinlein is spinning a yarn from the natural particles of time and space that we really need to grapple with, and like real, he doesn't tie the yarn into a tidy knot, but for me at least a very satisfying end where I can imagine my own next things to play out.

Enjoy!

7 people found this helpful

What was all that filler? A snooze fest.

As others stated, the narrator is all wrong for this. Bandits? Murder? Time travel? Sexy times with many people at the same time? The narrator makes everything seem so dull. He seems to enjoy hearing himself hanging onto the last syllable of every sentence, which became annoying and distracting for me. Also, nothing really happens for the many chapters in the middle where Heinlein entertains his fantasies with lots of partners, much spanking, and... inbreeding? Seriously, the story came to a grinding halt and shifted gears to something else, only to become interesting again halfway through the second to last chapter where it picked up again. Then in the last chapter it just ends out of nowhere. I did not enjoy this reading. I was such a fan of The Moon is a Harsh Mistress and Starship Troopers. Maybe if that narrator, Lloyd James had read it would have been better.

4 people found this helpful

This is the worst book ever written in history

What could have made this a 4 or 5-star listening experience for you?

A plot. Any plot would have sufficed, even a bad one, but realistically, there was nothing. There were occasional hints that a plot might begin, but ultimately nothing.

What was most disappointing about Robert Heinlein’s story?

If this is a 500 page book, then 490 of them were composed of the worst filler dialogue I've ever heard. The sexual innuendos were non-stop, in situations where such dialogue was absurdly unrealistic, inappropriate, out of context, and just flat out ridiculous. Heinlein got weird as he got old, and in place of a "story" it's just a series of situations advocating all forms of sexuality, both monogamy and plural marriage, with enough hints of incest and underage sex that I think those things were originally in the book, but some editor made him take them out. Notice I did not say "wise editor", because a wise editor would have put this abomination to a merciful death prior to being published. I actually listened to the whole thing, possibly because I'm clinically insane, but mainly because I couldn't believe that a man who wrote masterpieces like Stranger in a Strange Land and The Moon is a Harsh Mistress could write an entire book with a plot thinner than gold foil.

Did the narration match the pace of the story?

There were so many characters that the narrator was taxed to come up with enough different voices, but god bless his heart, he really did his best to make this abomination into a story, but he had nothing to work with.

What reaction did this book spark in you? Anger, sadness, disappointment?

In The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Arthur Dent and Ford Prefect are forced to listen to poetry so bad they wanted to vomit their brains out. Listening to this book was like that, except worse.

Any additional comments?

Run. Run away. Run as fast as you can, and don't look back at this book. Ever.

4 people found this helpful

Mundane and monotonous

3/4 of this book is like watching paint dry. It is one of the few that I have not finished but I got over halfway before I made that choice. I was waiting for it to get better. I got done waiting.

1 person found this helpful